This is a summary of 1973 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
date unknown - The Royal Northern College of Music is established by the merger of the Northern School of Music (established 1920) and the Royal Manchester College of Music (established 1893)9 January – Mick Jagger's request for a Japanese visa is rejected on account of a 1969 drug conviction, putting an end to The Rolling Stones' plans to perform in Japan during their forthcoming tour.18 January – The Rolling Stones' benefit concert for Nicaraguan earthquake victims raises over $350,00014 February – David Bowie collapses from exhaustion after a performance at New York's Madison Square Garden.1 March - Pink Floyd releases The Dark Side of the Moon, which goes on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time.8 March – Paul McCartney is fined $240 after pleading guilty to charges of growing marijuana outside his Scottish farm.14 March - The singers Stephen Stills and Véronique Sanson are married near Guildford, England.7 April – Cliff Richard takes part in the 18th Eurovision Song Contest. He finishes in 3rd place with the song "Power to All Our Friends".4 May - 29 July – Led Zeppelin embarks on a tour of the United States, during which they set the record for highest attendance for a concert, 56,800, at the Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The record was previously held by The Beatles. Performances for the movie The Song Remains the Same are also filmed.12 May - David Bowie is the first rock artist to perform at Earls Court Exhibition Centre.25 May – Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells becomes the first release on Richard Branson's newly launched Virgin label.May - Benjamin Britten has surgery to replace a failing heart valve.4 June - Ronnie Lane plays his last show with Faces at the Edmonton Sundown in London. Lane had informed the band three weeks earlier that he was quitting.16 June - Benjamin Britten's opera Death in Venice, receives its première at Snape Maltings.30 June - Ian Gillan quits Deep Purple.3 July – David Bowie 'retires' his stage persona Ziggy Stardust in front of a shocked audience at the Hammersmith Odeon at the end of his British tour.4 July – Slade drummer Don Powell is critically injured in a car crash in Wolverhampton; his 20-year-old girlfriend is killed.13 July - Queen releases their debut album.15 July - Ray Davies of The Kinks makes an emotional outburst during a performance at White City Stadium, announcing he is quitting the group. He later withdraws the statement.20 August - The London Symphony Orchestra becomes the first British orchestra to take part in the Salzburg Festival.20 October – Queen Elizabeth II opens Sydney Opera House.November - Karl Jenkins is among the participants in a live-in-the-studio performance of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells for the BBC.20 November - The Who open their Quadrophenia US tour with a concert at San Francisco's Cow Palace, but drummer Keith Moon passes out and has to be carried off the stage. Nineteen-year-old fan Scot Halpin is selected from the audience to finish the show; Halpin would later be awarded Rolling Stone magazine's "Pick-Up Player of the Year Award" for his historic performance.date unknown - The Taverner Consort and Players are founded by Andrew Parrott.6 January - "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" - Little Jimmy Osmond (3 weeks)27 January - "Block Buster!" - Sweet (5 weeks)3 March - "Cum On Feel the Noize" - Slade (4 weeks)31 March - "The Twelfth of Never" - Donny Osmond (1 week)7 April - "Get Down" - Gilbert O'Sullivan (2 weeks)21 April - "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" - Dawn (4 weeks)19 May - "See My Baby Jive" - Wizzard (4 weeks)16 June - "Can the Can" - Suzi Quatro (1 week)23 June - "Rubber Bullets" - 10cc (1 week)30 June - "Skweeze Me Pleeze Me" - Slade (3 weeks)21 July - "Welcome Home" - Peters and Lee (1 week)28 July - "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I Am)" - Gary Glitter (4 weeks)25 August - "Young Love / "A Million to One" - Donny Osmond (4 weeks)22 September - "Angel Fingers" - Wizzard (1 week)29 September - "Eye Level" - Simon Park Orchestra (4 weeks)27 October - "Daydreamer / The Puppy Song" - David Cassidy (3 weeks)17 November - "I Love You Love Me Love" - Gary Glitter (4 weeks)15 December - "Merry Xmas Everybody" - Slade (3 weeks)6 January - 20 All Time Hits of the 50s - Various Artists (1 week)13 January - Slayed? - Slade (1 week)20 January - Back to Front - Gilbert O'Sullivan (1 week)27 January - Slayed? - Slade (2 weeks)10 February - Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player - Elton John (6 weeks)24 March - Billion Dollar Babies - Alice Cooper (1 week)31 March - 20 Flashback Greats of the Sixties - Various Artists (2 weeks)14 April - Houses of the Holy - Led Zeppelin (2 weeks)28 April - Ooh-La-La - The Faces (1 week)5 May - Aladdin Sane - David Bowie (5 weeks)9 June - Pure Gold - Various Artists (3 weeks)30 June - That'll Be the Day - Soundtrack (7 weeks)18 August - We Can Make It - Peters and Lee (2 weeks)1 September - Sing It Again Rod - Rod Stewart (3 weeks)22 September - Goat's Head Soup - The Rolling Stones (2 weeks)6 October - Sladest - Slade (3 weeks)27 October - Hello! - Status Quo (1 week)3 November - Pin Ups - David Bowie (5 weeks)8 December - Stranded - Roxy Music (1 week)15 December - Dreams Are Nuthin' More Than Wishes - David Cassidy (1 week)22 December - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John (2 weeks)Between 2 January and 6 December 1973.
Notes:
The list of the top fifty best-selling albums of 1973 were published in Record Mirror at the end of the year, and later reproduced in the first edition of the BPI Year Book in 1976. However, in 2007 the Official Charts Company published album chart histories for each year from 1956 to 1977, researched by historian Sharon Mawer, and included an updated list of the top ten best-selling albums for each year based on the new research. The updated top ten for 1973 is shown in the table below. The most significant changes from the original BMRB chart were that the album previously thought to be the year's best-seller, the soundtrack to the film That'll Be the Day, fell to tenth position, and Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player by Elton John moved up from number four to become the new best-selling album of 1973.
Notes:
Malcolm Arnold - Symphony No. 7Jeffrey Lewis - AuroraWilliam Mathias - Missa BrevisNicholas Maw - Life StudiesPatric Standford - Christus RequiemMichael Tippett - Piano Sonata No. 3Grace Williams - Ave Maris StellaBenjamin Britten - Death in VeniceFilm and Incidental music
John Barry - A Doll's House, starring Claire Bloom, Anthony Hopkins, Ralph Richardson and Denholm Elliott.Richard Rodney Bennett - Lady Caroline Lamb directed by Robert Bolt, starring Sarah Miles.Albert Elms - Love Thy Neighbour.Paul Ferris - The Creeping Flesh directed by Freddie Francis, starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.13 May - Cyrano, with book and lyrics by Anthony Burgess and music by Michael J. Lewis, opens at the Palace Theatre, London, starring Christopher Plummer; it runs for 49 performances.Jesus Christ Superstar, a film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice rock opera, directed by Norman Jewison22 March - Beverley Knight, soul singer14 MaySinéad O'Carroll, Irish singer (B*B*Witched)Natalie Appleton, vocalist (All Saints)21 May - Noel Fielding, comedian and musician23 May - Nikki Yeoh, jazz pianist19 July - Martin Powell, keyboard player and songwriter (Cradle of Filth, My Dying Bride, Cryptal Darkness, and Anathema)23 July - Fran Healy, singer-songwriter (Travis)6 August - Donna Lewis, singer17 September - Amy Black, operatic mezzo-soprano (died 2009)27 September - Lee Brennan, singer (911)29 September - Alfie Boe, operatic tenor10 November – Jacqui Abbott, vocalist (The Beautiful South)3 February - Edward Lockspeiser, musicologist, composer and radio broadcaster, 6726 March - Noël Coward, composer and dramatist, 7318 April - Ronald Center, composer, 6024 May - Sid Phillips, jazz clarinetist, bandleader, and arranger, 658 June - Tubby Hayes, jazz musician, 38 (during heart surgery)9 August – Donald Peers, singer, 6616 August - Astra Desmond, contralto, 806 September - Sir William Henry Harris, composer, 9022 October - David Franklin, opera singer and broadcaster, 6527 October - Norman Allin, operatic bass, 8826 November - John Rostill, bassist and composer, 31 (electrocuted by faulty guitar equipment)6 December - Frederic Curzon, composer and conductor, 74date unknown - Harry Dexter, music critic and composer of light music, 63 
